det er ... der/som

Cleft Sentence

Level 3

Use Det er/var [Focused Element] [Relativizer] to highlight specific information, like 'It was Anna who called' (not Peter).

How It Works

Danish uses cleft sentences very frequently—often more than English—to manage information flow and provide contrastive focus.

1. The Structure:
The frame is always: Det + er/var + [Focused Element] + [Relativizer].

  • Use er for present tense and var for past tense.
  • If focusing a pronoun, use the object form (e.g., mig instead of jeg).

2. Choosing the Relativizer:
The word connecting the two parts depends on what you are emphasizing:

  • der: Used when the focused element is the subject of the following clause. This cannot be omitted.
  • som: Used when the focused element is the object. In both spoken and written Danish, this som is very often omitted (e.g., Det var ham, jeg så).
  • at: Used when focusing adverbials (time, place, reason). This at is also frequently omitted.

3. Word Order in the Second Clause:
The second part of a cleft sentence functions as a subordinate clause. This means that sentence adverbs like ikke must come before the verb. For example: Det er ham, der ikke kommer (It is him who isn't coming).

4. Why use it?
While English often uses vocal stress to emphasize a word, Danish prefers this grammatical structure. It signals: 'It was this specific thing, and not something else.'

Examples (4)

  1. Det er Anna, der har ringet.

    It is Anna who has called.

    Word by Word: It is Anna, who has called.

    Here, 'Anna' is the subject of the calling, so we use 'der'.

  2. Det var den bog, som jeg læste.

    It was that book that I was reading.

    Word by Word: It was that book, which I read.

    The book is the object of 'læste', so we use 'som'.

  3. Det var i går, at det skete.

    It was yesterday that it happened.

    Word by Word: It was in yesterday, that it happened.

    Since 'i går' is a time adverbial, we use 'at' (which can be dropped in speech).

  4. Det er mig, der skal lave mad i dag.

    It is me who is going to cook today.

    Word by Word: It is me, who shall make food in day.

    Note the use of the object pronoun 'mig' instead of 'jeg'.

Common Mistakes

  • Using 'der' when the focused element is an object.

    Det er bogen, der jeg læser.
    Det er bogen, som jeg læser.

    'Der' can only be used if it acts as the subject of the following clause. Since 'jeg' is the subject here, you must use 'som' or nothing at all.

  • Omitting the relativizer when it functions as a subject.

    Det var Peter ringede.
    Det var Peter, der ringede.

    Unlike English, where you can sometimes say 'It was Peter called', Danish requires 'der' or 'som' if the relative word is the subject of the second part.

  • Tense mismatch between the cleft and the event.

    Det er i går, jeg så ham.
    Det var i går, jeg så ham.

    The copula (er/var) should match the tense of the action. Since the seeing happened yesterday, 'var' must be used.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

det er ... der/somLevel 3Cleft Sentence

Learn This First

To understand cleft sentences (det er... der/som), you first need to be comfortable with the basic 'det er' (it is) construction. Since cleft sentences function by splitting a thought into a main clause and a relative clause, you must also understand how 'som' and 'der' work as relative pronouns to connect these two parts.

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Patterns that build on this one.

Words in This Pattern

væredersom